The Days Before
by Rhianwen
Summary: Planning a wedding is always stressful, even when it's not yours. Especially when it's not yours. Doctor x Claire, Ellicentric.
1. Chapter 1

The Days Before

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When Claire and the doctor announce their engagement to the entire waiting room, Elli is the first one to bounce from her seat and squeal a delighted congratulations.

After all, the doctor is _such_ a nice man, and she thinks that _more_ nice people need to get what they want in life, because it sometimes seems like the only people who do are the ones that aren't so nice.

And even though she doesn't agree _at all_ with the blonde farmer that _selfish_ is just a lazy man's way of saying _motivated_, and _cruel_ another word for _competitive_, she knows that Claire is what the doctor wants.

She hugs Claire, and tries not to notice the way the woman stiffens at her embrace, the way her arms dangle at her sides.

She hugs Tim, and tries not to notice a pair of eyes fixed warningly on her as her boss's hand lands briefly at her hair.

She hugs Popuri, because Popuri is waiting with her mother and hugged her first, seems to think that she needs a hug right now.

She hugs Lillia, beautiful, frail Lillia who looks like she might break if someone breathes the wrong way, because she's been softened up by Popuri's warmth and sweetness, and kind of feels like _she's_ going to break apart, too.

Then she begs off the afternoon with a migraine – _and don't look at her like that, it isn't much of a stretch right now – _and goes up to her room and cries until she falls asleep.

She might have worried once about the doctor coming to check on her after Jeff and Lillia's appointments and all the paperwork that she left him with, because they _were_good friends _before_, you know.

But nowadays, Claire doesn't like the idea of the doctor living alone with a girl – _even a plain and ugly one with boy-hair like Elli _– and she likes the idea of the doctor in another girl's room even less. So now he only comes in when the girl in question isn't here, to steal back his textbooks and sometimes the homemade candies Claire doesn't like other girls making for him, either.

They were _very_ good friends, before.

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End Notes: The first part of probably many, disjointed pieces of varied length that will (hopefully) manage to form a coherent and cohesive story. Or at least, great big load of angstfluff surrounding Elli and...um, someone. XD

Claire's characterization is dedicated to the Ushitard who lovingly described Elli as a "jealous idiot" for liking the doctor. Yup, Elli's the jealous idiot. That's why you're inventing characteristics to justify hatin' on her. My thoughts on how the Claire played by such a creature might come out.


	2. Chapter 2

The Days Before - Part 2

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When the doctor asks Elli, with that little cough of embarrassment that she fell in love with somewhere between his eyes and his smile, to take care of a few of the wedding details, she agrees without hesitation.

It isn't because she particularly _likes_ ordering flowers and hand-stitching napkins, or because she's trying to live vicariously through Claire and pretend that _she's_ marrying the doctor instead.

It isn't because she really _believes_ that Claire is too busy for all the little details that are building up into an entire wedding, and it _certainly_ isn't because she wants Claire to have the nicest wedding possible.

It isn't even because her heart feels a little bit lighter when she sees that twitch of annoyance in Claire's left eye every time she completes a task perfectly and there's no opportunity to caw triumphantly to the doctor, _I knew she was going to ruin my wedding!_

Okay, so maybe Elli likes _that_ a little more than she should. The doctor might say she's being an _angel_ through all the chaos, but he can't see what she's thinking.

Even while she's thinking her thoughts, and giggling at Popuri's and Karen's, she can't help but wish that Claire would stop hating her. Then they could be friends, and maybe then she could have the doctor back as her friend, too.

_That's_ why she works longer-than-usual hours at the Clinic for a fidgety, absent-minded groom-to-be, then spends her two hours of evening booking caterers from the city for the dinner and professional decorators for the church. That's why Grandma has been pursing her lips in concerned disapproval at her average of four hours of sleep a night, and that's why Stu has been left alone to make mischief that she'll have to clean up after when things die down a bit.

The matter of the professional caterers and the decorators drew some angry words, the former with Doug and Ann (who really didn't need an excuse to be down on this wedding, when her good pal Elli's sometimes wobbly smiles are all the reason she needs), and the latter from Sasha, Manna, and Anna, but Elli wasn't really paying attention; she was already making a bee-line for Doug's phone to confirm the band.

It hasn't occurred to her, yet, to wonder what all this splash is for. Which is probably just as well.

After all, she's looking forward to hearing Karen's theories, and she doesn't want to spoil them by having her own.

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End Notes: Hi!


	3. Chapter 3

The Days Before - Part 3

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When Gotz shows up one morning for a consultation regarding the renovations that the doctor wants before the wedding, Elli is all for it.

Even with a broken heart, it's hard not to be thrilled at the prospect of a no-longer-leaky bedroom ceiling, and windows that will finally close properly, and doors that will finally hang straight.

There was brief talk, at the consultation, of replacing the old, sagging kitchen cabinets, but that was dropped almost as soon as it came up. Claire thought it was completely _ridiculous_ to spend that kind of money so his assistant could have somewhere nice to not-cook, and Elli knew she couldn't really argue there, even if Gotz frowned at all three of them before scratching the cabinets off the itinerary. It was kind of strange, but maybe he just really likes installing cabinets.

She kind of wishes she could separate the way Gotz is ignoring and grumbling at Claire from the way he ignores and grumbles at _everyone_, because it would be _really nice_ to not be the only person in town who doesn't love their new farmer unconditionally. To see someone treat _Claire_ the way Claire has been treating _her_.

Maybe it's just that she's getting a little tired of seeing rich, pretty jerks hailed as heroes. _So what_ if Claire has pretty hair, and pretty eyes, and lots of money from her dead parents to build a fabulous farm? _So what_ if she has a natural affinity for plants, and her crops sell for top dollar? Why does that mean that she gets to insult everyone she comes across? Why does it mean that everyone has to tiptoe around and _let_ her, just in case she gets mad and goes to farm somewhere else?

Or maybe it's just that she's getting _very_ tired of Claire scowling at her all the time like she's just kicked an entire litter of puppies out a window. Elli's spent her entire life trying to get along with people, and she doesn't think it's _fair_, that Claire has to pick _her_ to hate for no reason.

Or maybe it's just that she's _long_ since tired of the doctor being cold and distant to her in Claire's presence, and warming up as soon as his precious bride-to-be leaves and it's safe to be nice again. She isn't as _adaptable_ as some people; she can't go from being an annoyance to being his best friend and confidante in the space of a closing door.

Or maybe it's just that all the stress and extra work lately has turned her into a brat.

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	4. Chapter 4

The Days Before - Part 4

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When the renovations actually begin, Elli quickly discovers, to her shock, that these are some of the nicest days she's had in a long time.

She thought she wouldn't be able to think with all the noise, with Gotz tromping in early every morning with his tool belt and armloads of other things she couldn't name if her life depended on it, and she was right; but it turns out that's the best part. There isn't much she really _wants_ to think about right now.

So she talks instead, chatters happily away to an only _mildly_ long-suffering Gotz, and by the end of the third day, he knows all about what's necessary in planning a wedding, and how hard it is to get hold of a seamstress for last-minute alterations at nine at night because Claire couldn't sleep until something was hammered out. His jaw tightens a little during the story, especially combined with the dark circles under her eyes, and the fact that the doctor can't give any details on the wedding because he doesn't _know_ any to give.

By the fifth day, he knows all about Stu's favourite TV show, and the terrible nightmares that Ellen sometimes has when she drinks coffee before bed, and what she plans to give all the special people in her life this Christmas – except for him, she adds solemnly, and he asks her, with a gruff laugh and a twist of the lips, when he became_ special_.

By the eighth day, he's started talking too, telling her stories about the animals he's run into in the mountains and shaking his head as she shrieks with laughter over the squirrel that threw a snowball at him.

By the tenth day, they've exhausted the lore of the woods, and the antics of little Stu, and stories of Ellen's gentle strength and kindness, and with the look of a man picking up a lightning flash by the tail, Gotz talks to her about Claire and the doctor.

"He's making a mistake, and I think he's starting to see it. She's not fit for a doctor's wife. First time his patients get more attention than she does, she'll howl like a bloodhound. It'll destroy his practice."

"Claire isn't that bad."

"Right; so I haven't spent the last week and a half watching her stomp around and scowl because he was civil to his workers?"

"No, because he_ stopped_ being civil about four days after you started repairs."

"Huh. So maybe he deserves what he's getting. I'm still surprised you're letting it happen."

"It's not my business."

"It's not your business, that someone you care about is making a bad decision? Maybe you deserve what you get, too."

She's up from her desk in an instant, white-knuckled, with anguished, blazing eyes.

"Why? Because I don't want to lose my job along with my friend? He won't even talk to me anymore, just in case she shows up unexpectedly and catches him being nice. I'm supposed to try to pry him out of his fiancee's death-grip and then get fired because I'm interfering in his personal life? How many nursing jobs do you think there _are_ in Mineral Town? I'd have to move Grandma and Stu to the city and get a job there, and I'm not leaving all my friends, and the house where I was born, and Mom and Dad's graves, and everything else, just because _Claire_ doesn't like other women breathing the same air as her precious Timmy!"

While she's talking – okay, fine, _shouting_ – it doesn't feel like the rush of words tumbling out will ever stop, and it's just a matter of time before he knows, and everyone knows, that she's just _the girl who lost_.

But something chokes her before _that_ can come out, even amid the incoherent jumble that barely even _sounds_ like her, and almost before she realizes she's stopped talking, she's halfway up the stairs and her bedroom door is in view, and slamming, and Gotz is in the lobby, alone and bewildered.

By the eleventh day, they aren't talking at all.

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	5. Chapter 5

The Days Before - Part 5

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When Gotz comes back on the twelfth day, he brings a few extra things with him.

"We aren't _doing_ the cabinets, remember?" Elli says crossly, eyeing the beautiful light oak cabinet doors and stylish brushed silver handles with fiercely restrained longing.

"Change of plans," he grunts, dumping the parts unceremoniously on the waiting bench without turning.

"The doctor didn't mention it."

"That's because I didn't mention it to him."

"He won't be happy." _Well, actually, Claire won't be happy, but it's the same thing._

He straightens up, and sighs, and finally turns.

"Call it a volume discount. Had to order the lumber and parts a couple weeks ago so they'd get here in time, and they don't take returns. I don't need 'em cluttering up the workshop, so you might as well get your cabinets."

Elli eyes him, the picture of stern disapproval.

"I'd prefer to pay you for them."

"And I'd _prefer_ to be fishing today," he shrugs. "Just take a free gift, will you?"

She fights valiantly with herself for a few minutes, wrestling down the temptation to unleash all her stress on him again because he's convenient and just yell until her throat is sore. Then she has to wrestle down the uneasy sensation that she's just accepting the cabinets because she really, really loves the handles he picked out, and she's just selfish underneath all her attempts to be a good girl.

And finally, she has to wrestle out a smile and a civil thank-you before he starts thinking she's crazy.

Then, after all that, she turns to find him gone.

Once she's finished glaring fiercely at the staircase, she wanders over to the pile of lumber, attempting indifference, and examines the cabinet doors.

They're even nicer than they were in the picture, and even though she's fighting with pretty much everyone she knows right now, Claire and the doctor and Gotz and even Karen and Popuri, because sometimes she takes out her stress on the wrong people and Grandma isn't always around to slap her hand gently in reminder, she can't help a sense of pure, hostess-ey satisfaction at how _nice_ the kitchen will look. She'll repaint, too, once the wedding is over, a nice springy green, and make some white lace curtains, and the light wood will look _so_ pretty.

She's just reluctantly resolved to bring her examination to a close, when a little slip of paper taped to the back of one plank catches her eye.

An invoice.

Dated for_yesterday_, not _two weeks ago_.

And so, with a cozy feeling of warmth and contentment not brought about _entirely_ by dreams of redecorating, Elli wanders back to her desk and flits absently through the day's work.

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End file.
